This Trader Joe’s Barrel Entry Proof example was released a few years ago to massive online hype. The internet clamored over its Rock Hills Farms type bottle, its distillate sourced from Sazerac (many claiming it had to be Buffalo Trace), its high proof, and reasonable $30 MSRP all led to overwhelming online hype.

For this California exclusive batch, Prohibition Craft Spirits took aged MPG whiskey (anywhere from 4-7 years old is estimated), then finished it in toasted barrels for a few additional weeks. It was then bottled at 117.6 proof and non-chill filtered.

The white label Origin Series is Bardstown Bourbon Company’s Straight Bourbon whiskey – featuring a mashbill of 60% corn, 36% rye, and 4% malted barley. This is their entry to the brand and is priced at $45 for a 96 proofer with a 6-year age statement

Lineage comes with some serious bourbon credentials. It starts off by using 15+ year old whiskies, then boasts a 111 proof, and finishes with an eye watering price of $250. And I will be the first to say, $250 is a lot to spend on whiskey – bourbon especially.

If you haven’t yet experienced New Riff’s Single Barrel program, it deserves a look. This was a solid bottle that I will happily restock. It’s easy to find, great value, over 4 years old, packs classic flavors, and hails from a smaller Kentucky distillery. What’s not to love here?

Fox & Oden’s American single malt features a blend of sourced 4-8 year old malt whiskies and comes in at 97 proof with an MSRP of $69.99.

Jim Beam’s Devil’s Cut is what happens when big bourbon companies have some extra money lying around for R&D. While most distilleries are concerned about perfecting the bourbon inside the barrel, Jim Beam took the extra step of extracting the liquid that is absorbed into the barrel walls during aging.

Released in Fall of 2022, this is the first iteration of Distillers’ Share and uses toasted brown rice as a flavoring grain and is aged for 5 years at their Clermont facility before being bottled at 51% ABV.

Launching back in 2015, This barrel proof single barrel expression was Jack Daniel’s first whiskey bottled straight from the barrel. It promises an unadulterated Jack Daniel’s expression, in single barrel form, and at an approachable MSRP of around $65. Thought to be anywhere from 4–7 years old, this is a non-age stated bottle that sometimes gets overlooked in the hunt for other more limited expressions.

This Silver Cross expression is Journeyman’s experiment of combining equal parts wheat, rye, corn, and barley together. Because of this strange mashbill, this is technically just qualifies as a “whiskey” without falling into any other specific genre. Silver Cross is then aged in what they call “small barrels” without much further explanation - leading to even more mystery.

Early Times Bottled-in-Bond is a whiskey that needs no introduction in devout whiskey circles. For many, it’s the champion of “budget bourbons”, the “bottom shelf queen”, and the “best bang for your buck for under $25”. But what makes this seemingly nondescript bottle - with its old timey label and strange 1-liter size - stand out in an ever-increasing group of budget choices?  

Gone are the days of 15 year old Noah’s Mill and instead Willett has now begun to use their own stocks for new batches and have dropped the age statement altogether. But with a healthy 114.3 proof and an excellent reputation for quality, I am excited to dive back into one of my old favorites.

Not every Blanton’s expression in the same. Above the standard release sits Blanton’s Gold (bottled at 103 proof), and Straight from the Barrel – the only true unadulterated expression of Blanton’s that comes straight from the cask. Now the specifics: it’s barrel number 14, rick number 36, from the famous warehouse H, and is bottled at 125.1 proof.

It’s not unusual to see a lot of hype surrounding a product coming out of Buffalo Trace Distillery. However, you rarely associate that excitement around a product that costs less than $25.

As the bourbon industry has gone through its massive boom, 1783 has always stayed a little bit stuck in the past. However, in 2021 Heaven Hill introduced a revamped 1783 that cranked the age of its barrels to between 6 and 8 years, increased the proof to 90, and bestowed it with a new premium bottle design.